Flash! Friday: Prompt #47

It's Friday! It's also almost the end of October which is absolutely crazy. November 1st, aka the start of NaNoWriMo, is only a week away!

While that craziness hasn't yet caught up with us, there's still time for this week's Flash! Friday prompt: 200 words +/- 5 on the photo below.  So, folks, let's write!

Stroke of Genius

“I’ve got it!” Master Ridgely dropped his pencil and froze.  He’d been scribbling furiously for hours.

Max had been doodling. “Got what?”

“Don’t you see?!” Ridgely jumped from the chair, upsetting his precious papers.  “I’ve figured it out! Oh yes. We’ll be the toast of England, boy – just you wait!”  He strode about their small workshop, vibrating with an excitement Max hadn’t seen in years.  Somehow, he avoided all of the busts displayed around them.

Max lowered his pencil, folding his arms.  “What have you figured out?”

Ridgely wasn’t listening.  “It all makes sense! If the measurements work, and with the Fibonacci sequence… Oh, yes!” He spun around.  “We might even get a knighthood for this.”

“Who needs a knighthood?”  Money for rent would suffice.

“It has to be tested, of course.  I’ll need a few specimens, but we can start right here. Stand up!”

“What are you on about?” Max knew better than to argue.

“You’ll see, or you won’t, but I’ve finally got it!”  Ridgely pulled him under the brightest lamp and started fingering his scalp.  “Right around. No… Well. Wait.” He paused, crestfallen.  “I say, Max. Do you, by chance, possess an extraordinarily large head?”

No wonder they called the hatter mad.

(205 words)